Direction
by USS Starcasm
Summary: Most people are born with a compass in their wrist that always points to their soulmate. Some people find them, others don't. Jack Spicer, however, isn't one of those people that simply give up. The world renowned genius decided that he would find his missing soulmate, no matter what. Even if that soulmate appears to have died... (Soulmates AU)
1. Taking Flight

The trip to China had been long, filled with obstacles and barricade. It had first started on that day, three years ago, where Jack decided to start looking for his soulmate. That initial search, however, had been fruitless. That had been the first of many obstacles. The biggest one, however, was when he discovered that his soulmate was, in fact, dead. Only their soul remained in this world. This wasn't exactly an obstacle, just… a bad turn of events. However, Jack didn't want to live his life with a useless compass in his wrist, like other people would be happily to live. He was only 22 years old, a whole life ahead of him. It was… too much time with this kind of reminder. Thus, the genius decided to go on a search for this soul, and set it free. No one deserves that kind of ending, anyways.

"There's no talking you out of this, is there?," Said Jack's mom as she saw her son placing his luggage at the door of their mansion in New York. There was a robotic butler standing next to the luggage, ready to lift them when commanded to. Jack turned back to look at his mother. She was standing next to the grand stairs that were in the middle of the mansion. She was hugging herself, watching with red rimmed eyes at her only child. Jack sighed, and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Jack said, hugging her tightly. He placed his head atop of his mother's unkempt mop of fiery red hair. With that, the woman crumbled and started sobbing against his shoulder. Her hands wove around Jack's torso, and held him tight to her. Jack's own hands were rubbing circles into her back.

"Please maintain contact with your father and I," Said Jack's mother once she had calmed down. She pushed Jack to arm's length, and looked at him up and down. Tears started brimming in her eyes as she drunk in the possibly last image she'll ever have of her son. Jack smiled sadly at her, and raised a hand to gently wipe away the tears that had started to run down her cheeks again.

"I will. I won't be long for more than a year, mom," Said Jack gently as he gazed down adoringly at his mom. His father had left during the morning; he didn't want to see his only child leave. Thus, this left his mother alone to try and change his mind.

"Ok, well… Go find that soulmate of yours, and bring them back so I can kick their ass!" Said Jack's mom. Jack internally deflated at that; if only she knew…

"I will, mom; but don't kick their ass too hard, ok?" Chuckled Jack. His mother chuckled too at that, before kissing his cheek and combing his red hair with her hand.

"Okay honey. Call me once you get there, and please get there safe and sound, ok? And take the lunch I packed you. Made some cookies, too," Said Jack's mom, looking towards a decor table, where the lunch currently was. Jack laughed, and nodded.

"Thanks," Said Jack, walking over to the decor table and grabbing the containers. Another butler bot floated in behind him, to which Jack gave the lunch to. The bot floated back to the entrance and left. In the meanwhile, Jack revised his mental checklist of things he had to bring to the trip.

"Ugh, I'm missing something," Mumbled Jack, scratching his hair. Behind him, some keys jingled. Jack turned around, and saw his mother holding the keys to his car, and the jet, on the tip of her index finger.

"Your dad and I thought of hiding them from you, but… That'd be a bit cruel, now wouldn't it? Everyone does deserve to find their soulmate," Said Jack's mom. Jack sighed, and walked over to her.

"I'll be fine, I promise. Look, I'll even getcha a silk dress, from China. How's that sound?" Asked Jack, gently taking the keys.

"I'd much prefer you get my son to stay home; but, alright, I guess a silk dress would be the next best thing," Said Jack's mom. Jack grinned, and kissed her forehead.

"Well, I gotta go. Love ya, mom. I'll call you when I land on Beijing," Said Jack, walking towards the grand entrance of the house. His mother called out a 'Bye, Jackie' behind him. Jack snapped his fingers, and the bots were grabbing his luggage and taking it to the car.

Once inside the car, Jack looked at the mansion's entrance once more. His mother was standing by one of the Greek-like, marble pillars that held up the architecture of the house. She waved goodbye at him, and Jack did the same to her. Without further ado, Jack started the engine of the SUV, and drove out the mansion.

The day had started out cloudy, with a chill wind rustling the leaves. Autumn was right around the corner, some trees already turning yellow. Jack sighed, he liked New York during the autumnal season. He was going to miss that too.

"Waddup?" Jack asked to the butler bot hanging out next to him, after a while of driving. The bot had started to play with a few harmless controls in the car; changing stations and whatnot. As soon as the bot heard Jack, it stopped and looked at the redhead with a "deer caught in the headlights" look.

"The roof," the bot answered mechanically.

"If I had a nickle for every time someone says that," Jack muttered, annoyed. The bot continued changing stations.

The next obstacle had been getting through security at the airport.

"John F. Kennedy, huh? Welp, looks like we're here. Let's see if they let us in through the cargo area," Said Jack, reading the airport's name on one of the numerous signs it had. The bot next to him hummed in agreement. The bots in the back seats also hummed in agreement. No one wanted to carry luggage through that city of an airport.

Luckily, Jack had called beforehand a few months ago. He already had a parking reserved, and a hangar where his private jet hung out. Once Jack had been parked, he got out of the car. Stretching his limbs, he motioned for the bot that had been riding shotgun to get out.

"Buddy, you're my bodyguard now. Congrats. Now look tough," Said Jack to the bot. The bot stared impassively as ever at Jack. It didn't actually have an expression-full face, to begin with. Jack shrugged.

"Can't see if you're glaring or smiling at me… Meh, good enough. C'mon, let's go," Said Jack, mentally running a small blue print to install expressions on the bots. Wouldn't be hard, it was just a total of four that he was taking with him.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to stop you there," Said a guard as soon as Jack had hit the elevator button of the multi-floor parking lot. Jack stopped, and looked at the guard. She was holding her walkie-talkie earpiece, and glancing at the bot.

"Hi! I'm Jack Spicer, nice to meet ya, Mrs. Song," Said Jack, glancing at her name tag. She instantly let go of the earpiece as soon as she heard his name.

"Oh, Spicer? As in Spicer Industries?" Asked Officer Song, although she already knew the answer.

"The one and only," Said Jack, grinning. The officer smiled along.

"Yeah, you were scheduled to arrive today, right? Oh, and then this is one of your bots," Said the officer, looking curiously at the bot. The bot nodded.

"Yep! Brought him along, he's acting as my bodyguard right now, hope y'all don't mind," Said Jack, pulling a puppy face. The officer laughed and shook her head.

"No, no, not at all. What with the contract you made with the DoD last year, I'm pretty sure you're one of the safest guys in America! So, what can I help you with?" Asked Officer Song, standing at attention.  
"So, I was wondering if I could get in through cargo to my hangar. I was about to go up to front desk to ask about that," Said Jack.

"I'll ask for you," Said Officer Song, fishing out her earpiece, "Officer Song to front desk, Mr. Spicer arrived and he had a questions about…"

As the officer continued her queries about security permissions and such, Jack took to, once again, making sure he had everything. The bot next to him floated idly, before getting a bit bored. The bot started to fiddle with his hands. Jack glanced down to the human-like gesture, and hummed lowly in acknowledgement. Seemed the personality matrix he'd install on them was beginning to grow. And, it seemed that this one was gonna be a handful in the future.

Officer Song lowered her hand from her earpiece, and Jack noticed that her right wrist's compass didn't have its needle on, but a cute ink of a branch with pink flowers. Jack guessed it was a cherry blossom tree branch, with how the flowers were gently drifting out of the compass and around the officer's wrist. So, she'd found her soulmate; that's cute. Jack quickly took his mind off of it.

"Mr. Spicer, they're saying they'll let you in through cargo, but only if you go through a security check first," Said Officer Song. Jack sighed, but nodded.

"That's alright! Just tell me through which terminal, and I'll be there," Said Jack.

"Actually, they'll do it in one of our conference rooms. There's too many civilians in all terminals right now," Said Officer Song. Jack nodded; true, he didn't want to alarm no one with all the unsafe equipment he was carrying.

"That's fair. Where's this conference room?"

Getting to the conference room had been harder than he thought. Sure, he had gotten access to maintenance hallways, and thus it wasn't as hard as going through the crowd. That, however, did nothing to fix the sheer size of the airport. It was literally the size of a small city. Also, other security guards weren't nearly as friendly as Officer Song herself; she also wasn't able to accompany him to this area, due to not having enough clearance. Jack barely got time to thank her for her help, before he had been escorted by other officers to the conference room. His bots trailed behind him with all the luggage he had been carrying.

"Sit inside while the inspectors arrive," Said an officer as he opened the wooden door to the conference room. Jack nodded, and he stepped inside with his bots. Once in, the door got shut, and the distinct sound of a lock was heard.

"Wonder what's got their panties in a twist," Asked Jack to the menacing, floating, 8-foot bot with red eyes that had been accompanying him this whole time. The bot shrugged, and placed down the luggage. The other bots did the same.

Sensing that this was going to take a while, Jack sat on a chair and fished out his phone. He placed his feet on top of the table, and started checking his social media. It seemed a few people out at the airport had gotten glimpses of him walking around. Blurry pictures were all over Twitter, making Jack feel more like a cryptid than a human being. He retweeted a few with the #Confirmed hashtag, or a link to the x-files theme song, before hearing the door to the room open. He pocketed his phone, before looking up. Interestingly, it wasn't normal officers that had entered the room. It was homeland security.

"Didn't I sign a contract with you guys?" Asked Jack.

"That was the Department of Defense, not Homeland Security," Said one of the officers, looking at the bots distrustingly.

"Ah…" Jack said, before directing the officers to his luggage, "So, there might be a few...stuff… in there."

"Open them up," Said the officer. Jack looked incredulously at them as they even brought a K-9 in.

"I ain't got no drugs-but, after all this, can I pet it?" Asked Jack as he opened the cases.

"Sir, we are going to have to hold you in an interrogation room," Said the officer, taking one glance at the first luggage that had been opened-and, yep, those were guns.

"Ugh, alright, but can I at least pet the dog?" Asked Jack as he stopped opening the cases. One of the guards behind the officer raised his eyebrows as he looked at one of the cases that was packed with grenades.

"No," Said the officer, before two officers came in and grabbed Jack by the arms.

"That's just cold," Said Jack as he was hauled out of the room. The bots made to follow their creator, but were held back by another officer.

"The bots will go to a holding room, in the meantime," Said one of the officers. Jack rolled his eyes, but groaned out a 'fine'.

The interrogation room was as every bit as movie-esque as possible. There was the cold, steel chair with the cold, steel table. The white floor with grey walls. The steel door. The black-tinged window that was actually a mirror. Jack scoffed at the absurdity of it; he'd done the goddamned paperwork four months ago to avoid this exact shit. The paperwork that basically said he was part of the military, and had almost the same clearance as military transport aircrafts.

But no, here he was, bored out of his mind. They'd taken his phone to, to boot. Jack realized that he should've just built his own airport, instead of being nice and using government ones to help with the economy. Whatever, too late for that now, he mused as he played around with the compass on his wrist. The needle kept pointing East, never moving nor quivering, like normal needles would do whenever the soulmate walked around. Jack traced the intricate, deep green borders of the compass. The border was in the shape of long, chinese dragons that went around the circle. Supposedly, once he found his soulmate, those dragons would come to life and live around his arm. Jack didn't know if that applied to dead soulmates. The needle of the compass was simple, but golden. Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Jack lifted his gaze and saw an officer walk in.

"We found your paperwork," Said the officer, as he set down the folder with it on the table.

"I told you I did it," Said Jack, crossing his arms, "Now let me go."

"Not before you answer a few of our questions," Said the officer, sitting down and clasping his hands. Jack glanced to the officer's wrist, and found that it was hidden expertly by the long, white sleeve of their shirt. Looking back, Jack realized that all the Homeland security officers had had long sleeved shirts that covered their wrists. Interesting.

"Alright, fine, waddaya need to know?" Said Jack.

"You never filed where were you going," Said the officer.

"I'm going to the Beijing Capital International Airport. Yes, I already filed in with them about all this stuff. Hopefully, they'll be less bothersome," Said Jack.

"We will need to conduct a call with them to confirm that," Said the officer, motioning something to the window. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, fine, what else?" Asked Jack.

"The compounds of the grenades," Said the officer, taking out a notepad.

"Why is that important? Isn't it more important to know that all of those briefcases are made of explosion-resistant concrete, along with some indestructible plastic, fabrics and titanium?" Said Jack. The officer clenched his jaw, but relaxed after a while. He placed the notepad back into his suit.

"I suppose so… What will you be doing in China?" Asked the officer. Jack pursed his lips, before placing his left arm on the table and showing his wrist.

"Looking for estranged soulmate. The… reason as to why I brought so much explosives and guns and stuff was because, well, since I know that there's some groups looking to get a hand on me, I figured it be easier to protect myself instead of hiring others to do it. Look, c'mon, if I were going to do, like, a terrorist attack, I wouldn't be using civil airports like JFK or Capital-and, yes, this is a direct flight. I'm not stopping in any other airports," Said Jack.

"...Fair enough, but one erroneous movement, and you'll be hauled back to the states, understand?" Said the officer, standing up.

"Yes, sir," Said Jack, shooting a mock salute. The officer groaned, and rolled his eyes.

Once Jack was let out of that whole ordeal, he marched his way back to the parking lot-still accompanied, however, by two officers. Seemed that Homeland security was going to keep an eye on him for the time being.

"I hope y'all know that I don't have space for you two in here," Said Jack once he was seated in the SUV. He started it up, seeing the officers retreat.

"There'll be two officers going with you on the trip. They're waiting in the hangar," Said one of the officers. Jack scoffed, but pulled out of the parking and into the driveway.

"Fuckin assholes," Muttered Jack as he fixed the rearview mirror so he could watch them cough in the distance at the smoke that came out of the SUV.

"It is standard protocol, sir," Piped up one of the bots in the backseat. Jack pouted.

"Oh, shut your voice box," Grumbled Jack.

The hangar wasn't overly big, just big enough to house the private jet. The jet itself was a sleek black, with the red Spicer Industries logo shining on its vertical stabilizer. There were a few maintenance bots floating around, each having already completed their tasks a while ago. At the foot of the metal staircase leading to the airplane were the two Homeland security officers, talking to each other.

"Officers," Jack said to get their attention. The bots that had been trailing behind Jack went up into the jet to deposit and organize the luggage.

"We are to travel with you to Beijing Capital. Once there, we'll see you off when you arrive at your intended destination within China," Spoke one of the officers. Jack noticed the lack of a nametag, and frowned.

"Well, if you two will be on road trip with me -or, air trip-, the less you could do is give me something to call you," Said Jack.

"Due to security purposes, we cannot give you our names," Said the other officer, this one a woman.

"Fine then. You will be Minga, and he'll be Petraca. Now, get on," Said Jack as he started ascending the stairs. He heard the sound of footsteps on metal, and knew that the officers were following.

The inside of the jet was small, but well organized so it was spacious. The entrance to it led directly to the lounge, where a few tables and sofas were. There was a LED flat screen on a wall that separated the lounge from the cockpit. Under the TV there was a small table with a few liquor bottles. Jack offered a drink to the officers, but as expected, they refused. Besides the cockpit, the opposite side of the lounge led to a hallway. In that hallway, there were doors to the bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen, and the storage area. In the storage area, there was a small room for the bots to hang around were windows everywhere; however, the lights were turned on due to them being in the hangar still.

"You'll be flying this?" Asked the female officer, now named Minga. The other officer, Petraca, was busy inspecting the jet.

"Yeah. Got my international piloting license at 15," Said Jack, flashing said license on front of the officer's face before placing it back inside his bomber jacket. He'd don it at soon as he had entered the bedroom of the jet. He pulled out the aviator glasses from one of the pockets in the jet, and hung them on front of his shirt.

"And the co-pilot?" Asked Minga. Petraca came walking back to stand at the lounge.

"Ooh, right," Said Jack, before calling out on the hallway, "Jack-bot 926, haul ass over here."

Instantly, the bot that had been the bodyguard this morning was back at Jack's side.

"Yes?" The bot asked.

"You were promoted from bodyguard to co-pilot. Get in there," Said Jack, getting out of the hallway to the cockpit. The bot floated in.

"That's not a viable co-pilot," Commented one of the officers.

"He is. I installed a few flying manuals and instructions into the whole lot that I brought over. I'll probs leave him connected to the flying computer if I get bored. We'll see. Anyways, gotta go! Bye!" Said Jack, before slamming close the door to the cockpit. He locked it, and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Computer, status," Said Jack as he walked over to the pilot chair. With the press of a button, the windows of the cockpit were brightening. Jack pulled the pilot's headset over his head, and accommodated the microphone. Meanwhile, the jet's computer rattled off the status of the jet; things like engine temperature, gasoline stored, and battery levels were mentioned.

"JFK Ground Control, Spindu Four One Three, Request clearance for Bravo, Over," Said Jack into the headset. The hangar doors opened, and there was another plane parked on the Bravo taxiway. Thankfully, he knew he'd need a clearance on the Bravo taxiway.

"Why did I choose this airport?" Groaned out Jack as he sunk into his seat.

"JFK Ground Control to Spindu, where are you Spindu?" the controller asked.

"Inside the hangar at the start of Bravo. There's a Cessna on front of me, can't leave, " Said Jack.

"Alright, copy that. Give us a few minutes."

Jack drummed his fingers against his thigh, watching the small Cessna that was blocking his way. After 10 minutes, Jack considered rolling over the Cessna and paying whatever damage demolishing a plane would cost, but thought better of it. After 20 minutes, Jack-bot 926 hooked onto the flight computer, and fiddled around with the cockpit lights. After half an hour, Jack finally saw someone run over to the Cessna. What Jack assumed to be its pilot threw open the door, closed it, and instantly turned the plane on.

"Ground control to Spindu, clearance for Bravo, please advance over to Victor and wait behind the Delta short of Alpha," Said ground control once the Cessna taxied out of the entrance to the hangar.

"Copy that! Spindu Four One Three," Jack said merrily once the Cessna had gotten out. He taxied the jet out onto the taxiway, and rolled over to the position behind the Delta.

"Huh, looks like there's quite a line," Said Jack. The bot beside him hummed in agreement.

The wait to get in the air wasn't as long as Jack thought it'd be. One hour, and the wheels were off the ground. Pulling the aviator glasses over his eyes, Jack sighed deeply as he took the blue skies around him. The sun was setting over the horizon, meaning that they'd be arriving at Beijing during dusk. The jet lag was going to be awful; at least Jack planned to take the next day off in order to adapt.

Air traffic was low at best; almost no planes did direct trips. Jack had the luxury of doing so, since he had added solar energy to the list of energy sources that could power the Spindu jet. The bot next to him kept itself hooked up on the flight computer, and eventually Jack let him pilot the ship. He seemed to be enjoying it.

"So, how's everything?" Asked Jack as he exit the cockpit. He launched himself onto one of the couches, and laid sprawled on it.

"Good," Commented Petraca, who was reading a magazine. Minga had been watching the TV.

"Ugh, did you guys see the line at JFK? I thought we'd never get outta there," Said Jack, raising his arms to motion them as he spoke. He caught a glimpse of his compass, and lowered his wrist to look at it.

"You sure are dedicated to finding them," Said one of the officers. Jack glanced at her, and back at the wrist.

"Who wouldn't be?" Said Jack.

"Do you know who they are, or…?" The officer, Minga, trailed off. Jack shook his head.

"Nah, the drones I had couldn't track my compass-or any compass," Said Jack. The officer grunted in understanding.

The 20-hour long flight was a slow one. At one point, Jack ended up going to sleep in the bedroom. He'd relayed all important instructions to Jack-bot 926, who seemed to be excited about the idea of manning a plane all by himself. Jack found it cute that the bot's personality matrix expanded to being amazed by airplanes. Once they'd arrive at China's borders, the bot was to wake him up. After giving the bot the instructions, Jack checked the rest of the bots in the storage area, and saw that they had found an old chess game and were playing it. Or, well, two of them were playing it while the last one acted as referee. Not once had Jack seen those things be so concentrated, until now. Being shooed out of the storage by the referee, who didn't want anyone distracting the two players, Jack hit the bed and instantly went to sleep.

~o~o~o~o~

 **(A/N):** This wasn't beta-ed, or proofread as it should've been. There's probably 1001+ continuity errors ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

So, I'll be updating every Friday. Chapter Two is already written, but I'll publish it next Friday.

This fanfic is going to be slow, so, if you want, you can just wait 'til chapter three is out. That's where the action truly begins. I won't judge!

Kudos + comments are highly welcomed and appreciated!


	2. Temporal Home

"Master…"

"Ugh, five more minutes."

"Master."

"Fuck off."

" _Master!_ "

Jack bolted off of the bed, looking around with wide eyes. He calmed down when he saw one of the Jackbots from before, 413, at the foot of his bed. Jack rubbed his eye, and cleaned the drool that had been at the corner of his mouth.

"Dude, wassup? It's, like, four in the morning," Said Jack, glancing at the clock on the side of the bed.

"We crossed China's borders an hour ago. Estimated time of arrival: 6:34am," Said the bot. Jack scratched his head, before waving out the Jackbot.

After prepping up, Jack exit the cabin with a steaming cup of espresso at hand. After one sip, nearly scorching his tongue off, the genius was alert and wide awake. He quickly checked on the bots in the storage room, and saw that they were all recharging, including Jackbot 413. Jack took another sip of the espresso, his eyes wandering around the storage area, before walking out to the hallway again. He peered down one of the many windows of the jet, and saw the bright lights of China's cities below.

"Huh… Cool," He muttered as he watched the lights below zoom slowly past the jet.

The silently walked over to the lounge, knowing that the two officers would be asleep. Minga was on one of the reclinable chairs, while Petraca was sprawled over the sofa. The lights had been turned off, only the light on the hallway to the cockpit was on. Jack took another sip of his espresso, before finishing it and chucking it at a nearby trashcan. Feeling generous, Jack went back to the kitchen of the jet, and made some more coffee for the officers, before going into the cockpit and locking the door.

"Computer, status," Commanded Jack as he slid into the pilot's chair. The automatized voice of a woman started giving the ship's status, startling Jackbot 926, who had been flying alone the airplane until now. Jack waved a 'hello!' to the bot, and the bot reluctantly did the same to him. The bot then studied the motion with his own hand. Jack huffed in amusement, before going back to paying attention to the computer.

"Hm, seems like its going to be a pretty day," Commented Jack after a while from the computer giving the jet's status. He had been looking at the weather from his cellphone. There's wasn't going to be any heavy smog in Beijing during the morning, and the day was going to be a nice temperature of 26 degrees celsius during the day. Just as Jack began to scroll down the page to check the wind conditions, the needle of his compass started quivering.

"Oh," Jack cooed, surprised. He dropped the phone in his lap, and payed attention to the needle. His eyes widened as he realized that the needle hadn't been pointing East, and probably for a while now. It was more of a Southeast direction. The needle was slowly moving south, and then rapidly took a turn to the southwest. Jack yelped, and started frantically searching out the windows. They were going over the Loess Plateau; Jack looked on confusedly. According to all the research he had done in the two years prior, his soulmate's soul had been in the Sichuan region.

"That's weir- oh," Jack felt stupid for a moment, realizing that the compass had been pointing at the Sichuan region, which was below Loess. Jack sighed, a bit relieved that his extensive research had yielded correct results. Coming to China was a good thing.

The Beijing Capital International Airport was a busy one. Air traffic started condensing once Beijing itself was visible as a bright dot against the otherwise black sky in the horizon. At seeing the big city, Jackbot 926 transferred control of the jet over to Jack, who happily took the metaphorical wheel. A few minutes after that, he had been hailed by the ground control of the BCIA, in order to organize the landing.

"Good Morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the city of Beijing, China's capital and the world's most populated capital city! The weather is a chilly 27 degrees Celsius, with 20% chance of rain and winds of 5 to 8 kilometers per hour. There's some coffee done in the kitchen; we'll be arriving at the Beijing Capital International Airport in half an hour. Please buckle up when the lights turn on!" Spoke Jack cheerily into the intercom of the jet. He hoped the officers wouldn't be stupid enough to try and drink the coffee _while_ the jet was landing.

The ground controller had been nice enough to Jack, guiding the jet into a safe and easy landing. Jack sighed at the immensity of the airport; and he thought JFK was big. Ground traffic to taxi the jet around had been more concentrated than the one at JFK. Fortunately, they were able to arrive at their destined hangar within two hours. Some might've called that a long time, but Jack was thankful that it was actually a short enough time.

"How was landing?" Asked Jack once he opened the cockpit door. The officers still looked impeccable, and were sipping coffee while looking at the workers in the hangar. Half of the workers were bots from Spicer Industries.

"Good enough. We'll be escorting you to your ride, and then we'll get out of your hair," Said Minga, smiling for the first time at Jack. Jack shot her a mocked surprised look, before chuckling and nodding.

"Yeah, that's fine," Said Jack, before going to check on the equipment.

Apparently, the good thing to come out of the Homeland security scuffle back at JFK was that they called BCIA to confirm that, yes, Jack Spicer was going to come heavily armed. With the paperwork that Jack had done a few months prior with BCIA too, he wasn't bothered at all by airport security—well, he was bothered for a few selfies, but that was about it. Better selfies than blurry images with the "HE'S OUT THERE" captions.

While his luggage was being unloaded, Jack mingled around with the workers in the hangar after having phoned his mom. He had had enough time before to checkup on current events in Beijing and bordering cities, but it was always better to consult with the locals. Also, this let him practice his Mandarin before being launched out there where he would need it all the time.

"Smog mostly occurs during heavy in the winter, so don't worry much about it now," Said one of the workers, in Mandarin. She pushed a stray hair behind her ear, and Jack caught the small cats that were running around her wrist. He pushed the observation aside.

"That's good. And what about the cold?" Asked Jack in Mandarin, glancing back at the bots that were unloading stuff from the jet and taking it to the other SUV waiting here. They were going to take a while more in unloading.

"It starts getting more cold when October rolls in. Thankfully, it's still September," Said the woman. Jack nodded, and turned to leave before he heard her call him back again.

"Oh, what's wrong?" Asked Jack.

"Nothing, I was, er, curious about your compass, if that's alright," Asked the woman, looking down at his wrist before up at his eyes. She extended her own wrist, and Jack could the two cats looking back at him with green eyes. They were both white, with black and red spots. It was a sore topic for Jack, but he swallowed it down before extending his own wrist. The woman's eyes widened at the sight of the compass.

"Yeah, I, uh, haven't found them yet," Said Jack, using his other hand to scratch the back of his head. The woman grabbed his wrist gently, and lightly touched the compass with an index finger. The cats on her wrist walked to the top of her hand, and peered down at the compass.

"It is very beautiful; you'll be lucky when you find them!" Said the woman, smiling up at Jack. Jack smiled back, ignoring the emptiness that settled in his chest. The woman, having satisfied her curiosity, left. The cats moved to the back of her swinging hand, and watched him as she left, before continuing playing around the arm.

Once everything had been loaded onto the car, including the bots piling up in the backseat, Jack bid his farewell to his flight buddies. The Homeland Security officers curtly bid him farewell, before Jack got on the car and started it. In order to be able to use it all the time (as, during heavy smog seasons, Beijing's government restricted the use of the cars to certain days to certain drivers), and still go by his industry's philosophy of "0 Carbon Footprints", the SUV was entirely powered by solar-rechargeable batteries. Jack got proud whenever he remembered that that was his invention. Rolling out into the city, Jack did a mental note to talk to Beijing's government about using his technology to combat air pollution. Maybe extend that to all China? Jack shrugged; why not, sounded like a good idea.

He had considered buying an apartment, but eventually decided that a house in the countryside was better. He had lived most of his life with traffic jams and noisy cities, and a change in scenery was to be appreciated. The house he had chosen wasn't over the top like all of his parent's. No, this one was smaller, with three rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining area and a living room. The laundry was outside, and the entire house was one level. It was only a half hour drive from the nearest city.

"You bored?" Asked Jack to Jackbot 235, who was shotgunning now. Jackbots 926 and 413 were in the back, playing rock paper scissors.

"Not particularly," Replied the bot. Jack did a funny face of surprise, seeing that the bot responded in a more humane way.

"What, really? What's got you entertained?" Asked Jack.

"Fengtai is quite pretty," Said the bot, motioning to the district outside, the one they were currently passing through.

"Huh… I guess it is," Said Jack, noticing the urban areas.

"I've catalogue 33 differences between the culture here, and the culture back at New York city. Would you mind hearing about them?" Asked the bot. Jack noticed that the bot seemed excited at the prospect of sharing its findings.

"Uh, sure! Lay 'em on me!" Said Jack, and the bot launched itself into an explanation on the findings it made.

They arrived at the house during the early evening. It was located up on a mountain inside the Hunan province. The countryside was rich in vegetation; it was full of tall trees and colorful flowers that swayed in the light breeze. Behind the house, a creek ran by, with bamboos decorating the riverbanks. The house itself was wooden, but had been well kept. Jack smiled at the change of concrete and fourwalls that he was used to back in New York. There were various rolling doors on the side of the house, which Jack assumed was where the living room and dining rooms were.

"Dude, I'm gonna have to cut you off there; we arrived," Said Jack, lifting a hand to cut off Jackbot 235. The bot stopped, and stared indignantly at Jack, before moving his head in a way that Jack realized they were pouting.

"Fine," Said the bot, before opening the door and getting out. Jack chuckled, before turning off the car. The rest of the bots took this as a cue to get out of the car too.

The waft of fresh, cold air surprised Jack. After over 24 hours being in air conditioned environments, he had almost forgotten how nice the air outside was. He took to stretch his limbs once he was out of the car, the joints popping in place. Sighing deeply, Jack let his limbs down, and turned around to see that the bots had copied the stretch as well. Jack gave a hearty laugh, before shaking his head at their antics.

"C'mon, let's checkout the house before unloading," Said Jack, waving the bots over. As he walked to the front door, he searched around his jean's pockets for the keys. After a few seconds of uncertainty, he yelled a little 'Aha!' as he was able to fetch out the keys. They were a bit rusty, as was the lock; Jack did a mental note to change that later on. However, the key still worked, as it fit in perfectly within the lock and was able to turn it. With a small push, the door was opened. The dust that had gathered around the door frame dispersed, making Jack sneeze.

"Sir," Called Jackbot 413, as they held out a tissue for Jack.

"Thanks," Said Jack nasally as he held the tissue to his nose.

Walking inside, he ordered the bots to start opening the windows and dusting off areas. There wasn't that much dust inside, for which Jack was grateful. The furniture was made of wood and wicker; however, it wasn't tall at all like the ones Jack was used to. The living room had a kotatsu in the middle, with comfy looking, sofa-like cushions on the floor. The dining room did have a table, but it was rounded and small with only two seats. The rest of the house followed a similar fashion, small, minimalist wooden furniture. For decor, there were a few wicker vases here and there, and artificial flowers on a few areas.

The sliding door at the living room opened to a wooden terrace, that overlooked a small garden with a stream running through. Jack wasn't the type to keep gardens-or do any outdoor activities, due to the sun. However, he noticed that the canopy of the trees around provided shade at all times to this garden. He mused the idea of starting a garden, and considered doing one in the future. _Who knows,_ he shrugged.

"Master, do I start cooking?" Asked the last Jackbot, 623, as they stood on the doorway to the terrace.

"Uh, sure," Said Jack. The bot nodded, and happily floated away.

Jack took this time to check the bedrooms. One of the bedrooms had been furnished into being a study, with a wooden desk and various bookshelves around. There was a ceiling fan above, however, seeing how chilly a normal day was, Jack suspected he wouldn't be using it any time soon. He could set up workshop here; place a cover over the desk so the wood wouldn't be damaged. He didn't bring much books, just manuals for if he forgot how he built his own creations, which he highly doubted he would.

The guest bedroom was sparsely furnished. Just a bed, a night table, and a chest at the end of the bed. The window, however, had flowery curtains. Jack found this room to be the most uninteresting room he'd ever been in, thus he moved to the last one. The master bedroom was nice, with a queen bed on top of a wooden frame. It seemed to be made out of cherry wood, and had two night tables next to each side. There was another ceiling fan, a desk to the side of the room, and a bookshelf next to the desk. The window had a cream curtain, with brown endings. It was also an uninteresting room, but really didn't have much competition next to the guest room. Just when Jack was going to leave, he noticed the roof. It was white, barren, and could definitively look good with some glow in the dark stars. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but total darkness did creep him out a lot.

Connected to the master bedroom was one bathroom. It was regular; a bathtub, toilet, a sink and a cabinet. The water pressure was fine, and so were the lights, so Jack moved to check the other bathroom. It was located on the hallway between the master and guest bedrooms, and was the same as the master bath, only that the shower curtains were blue instead of cream.

"Master," Said one bot that appeared on the doorway. Jack jumped, startled, before relaxing.

"Waddup?" Asked Jack.

"May we start unloading?" Asked the bot.

"Oh shit, right. Yeah yeah, go right ahead. I'll stay and see where do we place all that stuff in," Said Jack.

Nightfall came quickly. They'd finish organizing the items, and tidying up the house right before the sunset. There was a spot between some trees that Jackbot 623 and 235 found where the sunset was visible. Jack ate there the food his mom had made him the day before. The sunset had painted the skies some beautiful shades of gold, pink and blue. It illuminated the mountain ranges in the distance. Jack had taken a picture of it, sending it to his parents back in New York. They replied by taking a picture of the sunrise over there. Jack laughed, and saved it.

Although the inside of the house had normal lighting, Jack decided to just light up candles the first night. There were a few oil lamps stored in the kitchen drawers, which Jack took and hung around the house and the kinda-garden. A few fireflies had started to appear in the garden too, which Jackbot 235 took their time to inspect. Jackbot 926 helped carry the lanterns around too, lighting them with the help of Jackbot 413. Jackbot 623 was washing the bathroom, out of their will.

"Time to plan for tomorrow," Said Jack once he and the bots were finished. The bots nodded, and went to retrieve the necessary equipment for planning, while Jack set up the dining table. When they came back, they set on the table some maps, writing utensils, rules, and a well-worn notebook. The stood at attention on front of the table, while Jack organized the materials and opened the maps and the notebook.

"You all left the weapons in the car, right?" Asked Jack a few hours into the planning. He had a pencil over his ear, and another in his mouth while he looked over the topographic map. There were various routes marked on it, each ending in a mountain in Sichuan. There was a star at the side of the mountain, marking the cave that was mentioned in a few legends the locals of the village at the foot of the mountain spoke of. There were a few hiking trails marked on the map too.

"Yes, master. We also checked the car, and everything is in order," Said Jackbot 926.

"Nice," Commented Jack, as he marked with an 'X' one of the routes he was definitively not going to take.

Sleep had been hard to come for the genius. Adrenaline was already coursing through his veins, as he checked all the things needed for tomorrow while in bed, staring at the roof. His phone was idly transmitting stars onto the roof with a small projector that was attached to it. The night was cold, although Jack was too cozy in bed for him to stand up and close the windows. The shadows danced under the holographic stars that swum on the roof. Jack got the distinct feeling that he was being watched; the hairs on the back of his neck had stood on a few occasions. However, the tiredness of yesterday and today's hectic events had finally caught up to him, and so Jack was able to fall asleep at some point during the night.


	3. Quiet Waters

Jack woke up with a start. He stared wide eyed at the darkness around him, while raising a hand to clutch his chest. He took deep breaths, to even out his quickened heart rate. The redhead figured he had had a bad dream, but couldn't remember what it was about. He stared at the glowing stars in the ceiling, calmed by their presence. After a while, he sat up and fished around for his phone. He pressed the button to turn it on; three orange lights flickered above its display, signalling that it was out of battery.

"Huh, weird… could've sworn that it had been charging," Said Jack. He searched around the bed for the charger, but didn't find it. Jack sighed, and stretched over to search for it on the floor. He did a small 'Aha!' as he saw it hanging from the wall. He grabbed the cord, but was distracted by the glowing stars shining down on the floor. He moved the cable, and saw ripples of movement coming from where it touched the black floor.

"Oh no," Jack muttered, as he realized that the door to his room was flooded. The water looked inky black in the darkness, with only the reflection of the stars on it. Suddenly, there was a splash coming from outside his bedroom. Jack jumped in his bed, started.

"Um… Jackbots?" Called out Jack from his bed. He let the cable splash down onto the water, and straightened on the bed. He called the Jackbots once more, and once more they didn't answer. Jack took a shaky breath, and moved to place his feet on the floor. He cringed as they touched and were submerged under the water. He looked down, and wiggled his toes. He couldn't see them.

Jack walked over to the door of his bedroom. With extreme caution, Jack managed to get it open. In came a small torrential of water, the level momentarily climbing to his knees before settling to under his calves. He poked his head out of the door, and looked down the hallway. The glowing stars were stuck to the roof of all the house, their pale green visage shining onto all the dark, inky water. With a shaky sigh, Jack exit his room and started walking down the hall. He noticed that the sky outside the windows looked like the deep, dark blue of dusk; it was starless, however. Jack stuck close to the wall, and poked his head out of the corner of the end of the hallway.

"Um… hello?" Jack asked shakily at the open area of the dining room. At the lack of response, Jack advanced cautiously onto it. He stopped in his tracks as he saw the living room.

There was a person sitting down on the floor.

Jack felt his own face contort in disbelief and horror, making a silent scream. He patted himself down to see if he had grabbed anything for protection, and saw that he didn't. The redhead looked at the stars in the ceiling, a miserable substitute to looking at the heavens for help. His mind flashed back to his mom, and how she'd never know that her son was mauled to death by the chick from The Ring. There was an exhale, and Jack's attention snapped back to the present problem at hand.

"Um… dude? You're…. Kinda…. Trespassing here…." Said Jack shakily, as he slowly moved towards the kitchen. Halfway, however, the figure snapped their head up, to look at him. Jack screamed at the sudden movement, before shutting up entirely. The figure's eyes were solid black-in fact, Jack squinted at them and saw that _there weren't even eyes there_. Water was cascading down the empty sockets as Jack started to hyperventilate.

Hyperventilating, Jack walked closer to the figure and further from the knives in the kitchen. He was shaking when he stopped right in front of the person. They were sitting in a lotus position, their wrists entirely visible.

"Holy shit," Whispered Jack as he caught a look at the wrists. The right one had a compass-sized smudge. It was black, red and white; it looked as if someone had tried to draw something there but messed it up by rubbing the skin harshly while the ink was still wet. Jack glanced at his own compass… and realized that it was pointing at the person.

"Oh my god," Said Jack, tears welling in his eyes. Jack raised a hand to cover his mouth, while he kneeled down to look at the person's face. They looked impassively back at him; under any other circumstance, Jack might've guessed that that look could've been one of annoyance. Ignoring that, Jack extended a hand to touch their face.

The stars in the ceiling all fell onto the water as soon as his fingers brushed their cheek. Jack flinched his hand back, momentarily looking at the stars around them. They faded onto the water, their glow dying away. The person, his soulmate, exhaled; the icy cold breath brushed over Jack. He looked back at them, and saw that they were fading.

"No, no! Wait, please, we can fix this!" Said Jack, grabbing onto the person's shoulders. His hands went right through, however. Jack kept trying to grab anything from his soulmate, but nothing stuck.

"Please, we can fix this," Said Jack as he fell onto the water, kneeling on front of his soulmate.

"You can't fix anything," Said the voice of his soulmate. Jack stared wide eyed at them.

"We can," Jack pleaded. The person looked at him with disappointment.

Jack kneeled on his living room. The water got to his thighs, but he didn't actually care. The stars in his ceiling had long since faded away under the water. Jack stared at the spot where he had seen his soulmate. Small, blue fireflies invaded his house, and were flying idly around.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

(A/N): This is just chapter 2.b, not chapter 3 itself


	4. Seven of Pentacles

Jack woke up with a start. He stared wide eyed at the bare, white ceiling. A few morning rays were filtering in through the window; dust particles idly floated in them. Jack clutched at his chest as he calmed down. He had had a bad dream, but couldn't remember what it had been about. The redhead sat up from the bed with a groan, and looked groggily around. He had a feeling that the dream had been about something important, but no matter how much he jogged his memory, he couldn't recall what. Jack sighed, and messed his hair in frustration. He dragged his hand forward, and extended a lock of hair. It stretched until right under his eyes; he'd need to get a haircut soon.

The strong smell of coffee permeated the air. Jack took this as a cue to stand up and get ready. He grabbed the clothes he had laid out the night before, and entered the master bathroom to get ready. Once he was fresh and clean shaven with his hair less of a mess, Jack went back to the bedroom to retrieve his phone. He pocketed it on his leather jacket, and exit the room as he zipped it up to its collar.

"Morning, Master," Said Jackbot 623, who was standing out on the hallway, espresso at hand. Jack thanked them as he grabbed the coffee and started sipping from it.

"Give me a status on what we have," Said Jack as he walked over to the dining room. He glanced over at the living room, and felt an unexplained feeling of relief and sorrow. He pushed the thought aside as he paid attention to Jackbot 623, who had been stating a few things.

The rest of the Jackbots were standing in line at the entrance of the house, ready to leave any minute. Well… only two Jackbots were standing there. Jack peered into the kitchen, and was met with a faceful of Jackbot 413's torso. 413 floated back a feet, and offered a small plate with toast to Jack. Jack smiled in gratitude, and took the plate before munching on the toast. He set his espresso on a corner of the plate. The bot floated back to the entrance of the house. Jack leaned against the wall that separated the kitchen from the dining room, and continued eating while hearing Jackbot 623's report.

"-To finalize, the weather today over the course we have planned today will be: 24 to 27 degrees Celsius, overall, with partly cloudy skies. Deeper into the Sichuan region, however, there's a 30% chance of rain. This concludes the report, ready for next command," Said Jackbot 623, looking back at Jack. Jack quickly devoured the toast and gulped down the coffee, rushing back to the kitchen to place the plate and mug on whatever first surface he found.

"Ok! I think we can all start marching to the car," Said Jack, clapping his hands once and looking at the bots excitedly. The bots nodded, and started going out the door.

This time, they travelled with the windows down; Jack noticed that the bots, much like dogs, enjoyed the air rushing through their facial plates. The inventor found that incredibly adorable. The thought turned sour as he recalled the various scenarios he had pictured for today. All the bots were hooked up to SpicerNet, an international private network with which all his inventions operated and received data and updates and such. All of his sentient inventions had a protocol in it that, in case their physical bodies were destroyed, their code of personality and intelligence would be quickly uploaded onto the net and stored in a server. Basically, it moves the debatable consciousness of the A.I. moments before its physical body is completely destroyed. Jack frowned at the road, and gripped the steering wheel of the SUV. He should've tested the self-evolving personality matrices on something else.

"Master?" Inquired Jackbot 413, who had noticed Jack's vital signs get distressed. Jack sighed, and willed himself to relax. He extended a hand and lightly patted the bot's shoulder.

"Its nothing," Said Jack, returning his full attention to the road.

The road was heavily forested, the rays of light filtering through the thick canopy of trees. The air was cold, but humid; the kind that made your skin feel sticky. The area was rural, with a few houses here and there. Most were of farmers, with their plantations behind the house onto the terrace. Jack glanced at the bots via the rearview mirror, and saw that they were all looking attentively at the passing sceneries. Jack smiled, and fixed the mirror to look back at the road.

Their first and only stop before getting to their location was at a village at the foot of the mountain where Jack's soulmate soul was last seen. The village was small, with less than 70 buildings. The cars were rustic enough that Jack's SUV gathered attention of the locals as he parked by. He noticed the plantations around the village, meaning it derived most of its income by farming. There were a few stores in it, most were either general stores, herbal remedy stores or small grocery stores.

"Stay in here and don't go outside, I don't wanna spook anyone. I'll be back in a few minutes, alright?" Said Jack as he turned off the car. The Jackbots responded in unison 'Yes, Sir'. Jack nodded, and hopped off the car. A few of the kids that were playing nearby now stared in curiosity at the pale man with the red eyes. Jack hurried his step, feeling a bit self conscious.

The adult villagers were much polite, and referred Jack to the stores. While Jack did come to buy a few things (like easy to carry food, and water), he also came to linger around and see if any news regarding his soulmate arose. Sure, his soulmate was probably a long lost urban legend thing already, but Jack kept his hopes high.

"Sir, are you looking for someone?" Asked the cashier as they rung the items through. The villager's accent was very different from the accent back in Beijing city, making it a bit more difficult to understand for Jack. Nothing he couldn't handle with a bit more attention, however.

"Not really, no," Said Jack. He didn't want to explain his situation.

"You look as if you did, however," Said the cashier. Jack kept quiet as he paid for the items, ignoring the glances the cashier took to both his wrists. They were covered by the jacket. Jack grabbed his bags and made to leave, but was stopped by the cashier who laid a hand atop his.

"We have a Medium in town; she could help you find who you seek. She's at the corner of the street," Said the cashier.

"Uh, thanks," Said Jack, a bit confusedly. He pondered the idea of the Medium on his way to the car; sounded interesting enough, and he had heard a lot about Mediums aiding in the search for soulmates. Thing is, this one could either be legit, or trying to scam him off of some money… Or both.

Meh, he had both time and money to waste anyways.

After placing the groceries in the car, Jack started looking for the Medium's store. It wasn't hard to spot; just as the cashier said, it was at the corner of the street on the ground floor of a wooden building. The windows were open, and had colorful flowers sitting on the windowsills. The door was also open, and one could see inside the various decor like fabrics hanging from the columns and feathers with colorful strings placed around. The second floor had a balcony overlooking the street, from which a child was curiously looking. At noticing Jack, the kid jumped off the rails and went running inside. Jack resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at where the kid was.

"I've been waiting for you," Spoke someone as soon as Jack placed one foot on the store. Jack sighed.

"Yeah, I imagine the kid told you that, saw him running as soon as he saw me," Said Jack to the woman that had appeared behind a column. She looked back at the kid, who was on his way to go up the stairs again. She placed her hands on her hips.

"I told ya to be more sneaky. How are we gonna get these foreigners in if they can blatantly see you spotting them, ah? Whatever, just go along then," Said the woman to the kid, before shooing him away. Jack suppressed a chuckle.

"I'm already in, ma'am," Said Jack. The woman turned around, and regarded him.

"Yes, well, come along; I'll read you your cards," Said the woman. She went to the back of the room, and parted some lilac curtains, and looked back at Jack, inviting him in. Jack pushed away all thoughts of this being too stereotypical, and entered the room. There was a dark, wooden table with two chairs at each side. The Medium hurried along and seated on the chair that looked towards the entrance. Jack seated on the remaining chair. There were windows, but their curtains were closed; the smell of incense permeated the air. The Medium took out her cards, and laid them on top of the table. There was a shelf behind her, with various books, herbs, and a crystal ball.

"Shuffle 'em," Said the woman. Jack grabbed the cards, and started shuffling them. Once finished, he laid the deck down. The Medium grabbed the deck, and started positioning it on front of him. Once finished, she laid the deck aside and flipped the first card.

"This card here is you," Said the Medium, holding up The Magician card, "A powerful man, on search of new beginnings. You may notice, or start to anyways, synchronicities, which will guide you to important spiritual events, regardless if they are relevant to you or not."

"...Ok," Jack idly thought that that was just a fancy way to say that his compass was working fine. The Medium looked annoyed at him, and flipped the next card.

"However, you seem to be blocked by your own negative thoughts on your current situation. You're on the search for your soulmate, are you not? You think that the search will end with a fruitless outcome, and that may not be true," Said the Medium, staring into the Star card.

"Well… they're dead, but ok," Said Jack, shrugging.

"How do you know they are dead?" Asked the Medium.

"I did extensive research on it before coming to find them," Said Jack in a terse town. The Medium huffed, and flipped the next card.

"Deep down, you are still hoping that your soulmate will somehow come to you," Said the Medium, holding the Nine of Cups.

"What?! No I'm not, they're dead," Replied Jack.

"It is more of a wishful thought-however, you will find that you will be reunited with yeou soulmate, even if its for a small amount of time," Said the Medium softly, looking at Jack.

"Oh," Jack said, deflating. Well, that sounded nice. The Medium flipped the following card, a five of pentacles.

"While other compass bearers in your position were perfectly fine in not finding their soulmates, and settling down with someone they love, you found yourself in the exact opposite. It appears that you didn't feel secure in not having a soulmate, and in fact felt alone while others around you had already found their own soulmates. You felt alone; this is what drove you to search for this soulmate of yours, even if that search has been harder than all the other things you've done in your life," Said the Medium a bit smugly at seeing Jack's pout.

"That hit too close to home," Said Jack, crossing his arms. The Medium flipped the next card, but her face fell. Jack frowned even more.

"Oh," Said the Medium, placing The Tower on front of Jack.

"What? What does it mean?" Asked Jack curiously.

"You'll be facing some great changes in the near future… In fact, it seems you are already facing them, but only the beginning. They'll get much worse; all the towers you have built based on your perception of things will come crumbling down right before your eyes-and you can do nothing about them, except watch," Said the Medium.

"That sounds… bad," Said Jack.

"It is not necessarily bad. You only have to wade through with a positive mindset, and you'll see that new towers will be built," Said the Medium.

"For them to come crashing down in fiery fury," Said Jack as he looked at the tower in the card. There was fire, a lightning strike, and people throwing themselves off the tower. It certainly seemed like a serious card.

"Or for them to build a castle… Let's continue," Said the Medium, flipping another card. This one was the Emperor.

"An old dude," Said Jack as he went to touch the card. The Medium swatted his hand away.

"A _powerful_ old 'dude'-and no, it isn't you. Tell me, have you ever thought of what your soulmate looked like?" Asked the Medium.

"Well… I imagined a corpse," Said Jack.

"Hm, it appears you are wrong," Said the Medium, grabbing a fan from under her desk and snapping it open to fan herself. The heat of the day was starting to affect the humidity in the room.

"The corpse of a powerful old dude?" Asked Jack. The Medium hid her face behind the fan-she was hiding her grin. Once calm, she placed the fan away.

"You certainly are a daft one. Your soulmate is a powerful man, who loves control above everything else. You'll find that this will be frustrating at times, but with enough patience, you'll see that he'll begin to crack. His rules, however, are there for a reason and you'll learn to see that," Said the Medium.

"...How old will he be, though?" Asked Jack. He felt a bit hopeful, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"You'll find that he will not love you instantly as you will to him, but that, with time, he'll come to love you even more than you would ever imagine," Said the Medium, leaning back in her chair.

"...So, really fuckin' old-probably dead. Got it," Said Jack. The Medium leaned forward and slapped his cheek with her fan.

"That is one tower that will crash down violently if you keep reinforcing it like this!" Snapped the Medium.

"Ow geez, ok ok!" Said Jack, rubbing his cheek. The Medium flipped the next card.

"You feel uncomfortable doing this trip, do you not? It is very outside your comfort zone, and you often find yourself thinking twice over whether or not it was the best choice to come to China, in the search of your partner. It is unlike you to take leaps like these," Said the Medium, holding up an Ace of Swords.

"You could say that again," Said Jack, sighing. The Medium smiled.

"It is a sign of bravery to feel the fear and do it anyways," Said the Medium, placing the card down.

"Thanks, I guess...uh, how many cards are left? Just those three, right?" Asked Jack, peering at the three left.

"Just these three. It seems the next one is the Eight of Pentacles. It indicates a period of hard work-and it would be wise to ask those around you to help you through these trying times. You may feel lonely, but if you think about it, you'll see that you have people beside you who want you to succeed…" Said the Medium. Jack felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, and he had the inkling feeling that he wasn't alone with the Medium anymore.

"You mean, like, physical people, right?" Asked Jack, leaning forwards. The Medium smiled an all-knowing smile, and flipped the second-to-last card.

"You hope that this journey of yours will finish today, and that you'll be able to take a well-needed rest from all this hassle that has going on in your life in the past three years. You think that finding the location of your soulmate was the successful ending to your quest," Said the Medium, placing aside the Ten of Wands card. Jack huffed.

"It is the successful ending!" Replied Jack, eyeing the last card with a feeling of trepidation. The Medium glanced at him, before flipping it.

"It's not the successful ending, it seems," Said the Medium, as she began to organize the other cards into her deck.

"Wait,wait. What does that card mean?" Asked Jack.

"That'll be 168.44 Yuans," Said the Medium. Jack looked at her incredulously.

"Are you seriously not going to tell me that last goddamned card?" Asked Jack.

"I just told you so. Your quest does not end today, and nor is its most successful ending today. Now, 168.44 Yuans, stat," Said the Medium, wiggling her fingers.

"Unbelieveable; that was a let down, frigging cliffhanger right outta your sleeve. Here's the money," Jack grumbled, placing the money on the Medium's hand. As Jack left the store, the Medium played with the remaining card on the table; a Seven of Pentacles.

Jack stomped to the car, and threw open the door-slamming it shut once he was in. The bot next to him jumped, and Jack suppressed the urge to say sorry. He sighed, and put on his seatbelt as he willed himself to calm down. It's fine-the lady fed him some bullshit and he bought it for a while. It's totally fine.

"Master, are you alright?" Asked the Jackbot next to him. Jack nodded, and turned on the car.

"Yeah, just a bit pissed that an old hag let my hopes up about my dead soulmate being alive. Remind me to never get close to witchy people ever again, alright?" Said Jack as he drove out of the village.

"Reminder added to database," Said the Jackbot.

The remainder of the trip was short. The further up the mountain they went, the fewer houses and people there were. More vegetation and humidity abounded-however, the temperature got a bit colder. At one point, the road turned rocky; it had been pavemented once, but with use and time, the road had broken down.

The actual place where they were going to park the car wasn't close to the place where the soul was. It was at a lookout point to the side of a cliff; for safety of the tourists, there was a green, metal banister that kept the people from accidentally falling over. The cliff was at the side of the mountain, with no trees to obstruct the beautiful view of the green valley below, along with the mountain ranges in the distance and the rivers between them.

"Wow, look at the view," Commented Jack as he parked the car and turned it off. He quickly opened the door, and climbed out, the bots doing the same behind him. He breathed in the cold, fresh air, before walking over to the banister.

Behind them was the official entrance to the forest itself. It was marked by a wooden arch standing between the trees; under the arch were some stairs made out of the roots of the trees nearby. The arch was a terracotta red, with golden accents around. Some of the gold paint had chipped off; plants had been starting to crawl up the poles on their conquest to take it down. Jack turned to look at it, and frowned.

"Well, let's get prepped," Commented Jack as he walked to the back of the SUV and opened its trunk.

The first thing he grabbed was a roll of duct tape, which he started rolling around his arms. It would protect him from whatever plants decided to try and slice him up; the boots would be protecting his legs. After that was finished, the redhead grabbed the utility belt and put it on; harmless things like flashbangs, knives and electron packs were on it. The plasma handcannon and its holster were strapped to his thigh, exactly where his hand ended for quicker pull out. The electron pack was essentially the handcannon's "bullets". Meanwhile, the bots next to him had also been prepping up. They were digging inside the boxes they had brought for ammo and the such, loading up all their weapons and storing the extra in compartments at their chest.

"Everyone ready?" Asked Jack as he finished up. The Jackbots nodded, and as Jack stepped away from the car, 413 lowered and closed the trunk.

"Who had the map of the forest?" Asked Jack. 926 stepped forward and projected a hologram of the map, the route they were going to take was highlighted in red.

"Nice; I'll be riding on top of you, then," Said Jack, walking to the back of the bot. The bot nodded, and floated a bit closer to the Earth so that Jack could get on. The redhead jumped onto its back, and was able to climb up to its head. With practiced ease, he soon had his thighs around the bot's head; he leant his arms on its head, and settled in.

"Onward!" Said Jack, pointing a finger to the front. He heard the soft, robotic laughter of Jackbot 623, and glanced back quickly to see that the bot had covered its face as if it was a person. Jack looked back on forward and felt his cheeks brighten; the personality matrix was actually working, and that excited him.

As expected, Jackbot 235 stopped next to the arch and started analyzing it. Jack groaned internally, but let the bot analyze the arch for as long as they wanted. Sure, it consumed time (which was precious at the moment), but it also advanced the matrix in the bot-and gave them a sense of happiness, in a way. Jack looked on boredly as the Jackbot finished its analysis.

"Master, I have collected data from this arch, and estimate its construction timestamp to be around June 23 of 1753. It has been restored a few times; do you care to hear more of it, and of the forest?" Asked Jackbot 235 as it looked back at Jack. Jack sighed, and dragged a hand through his face.

"Sure, babe, go ahead," Said Jack, signing his death sentence. He saw how Jackbot 235's eyes literally brightened in what could only be joy, before it launched itself into a lecture about the history of the arch and the forest.

The forest was too dense to use the helipack in, Jack first noticed; not that his seat atop 926 was bad, but the helipack tended to be a lot faster. There was a lot of fauna, with many noisy birds and lizards crawling around. There were a few stray cats here and there, that ran away at seeing the Jackbots; probably lost pets from the village below that procreated up here. There were a few streams nearby, one of the primary sources of humidity in the forest.

One of the oddest things in the forest, however, were the tiny structures that were littered about. Tiny houses that made up communities seemed to strive around trees, and small, lamp-shaped buildings were found here and there. Some of these communities had wilted flowers on them, as if people had once left a colorful bouquet on top of them. Jack looked back at 235, and felt bad at stopping them midway through their lecture.

"Sorry to stop you, but do you know what those are?" Asked Jack. 235 looked annoyed at first, but then caught on the tiny houses. They stopped in front of one, and spent some time analyzing it. Meanwhile, Jack checked his phone for the time. It was 1pm.

"Master, they seem to be offerings to the spirits," Said Jackbot 235.

"Spirits?" Asked Jack, looking around to see if he could randomly spot them.

"Locals and religious folk believe that the spirits of the forest and those that have died in this forest dwell in these houses. They leave offerings appease them," Said Jackbot 235.

"Huh, interesting," Said Jack, before patting Jackbot 926, signalling him to keep on going.

Not long after, Jack hopped off from 926 and continued on foot. He felt restless after sitting still for so long. The path had begun to fade away, and got more rocky, urging Jack to find a bamboo stick and use it to climb up the roots and jagged surfaces. The ground was slimy with moss and mud; the forest begun to get more dense.

"How close are we?" Asked Jack, stopping to push the sleeves off his wrist in order to look at the compass. Well, according to the compass, they were going the right way. Behind him, Jackbot 926 projected the hologram of the map with the route.

"Actually sir, we are right on front of it," Said the Jackbot. Jack turned on his heels fast, and peered to the map, before turning around once more to look at rocky surface on front of him. It didn't look like anything special; it literally just looked like the rest of the steep forest floor, lots of vines, rocks, moss and small shrubs.

"What?" Asked Jack, rubbing the back of his neck. Jackbot 623 helpfully floated by and carefully examined the surface. After a while, she tugged Jack behind her with a hand, and pointed the other at a particular gathering of rocks that were partially hidden by some roots.

"Ooooh," Said Jack in understanding, crouching and covering his ears as 623 fired a plasma bolt at the rocks. In less than a second, there was a perfect circle shaped entrance in the rocks, the edges of it red hot and melting.

"It seems that time and erosion filled up the cavern's mouth," Peeped up Jackbot 235. 623 nodded in agreement.

"We should send a drone ahead," 623 suggested. Jack shrugged.

"Sure, we can send one while we dig into this thing," Said Jack. Jackbot 926 opened up his chest compartment, and got out a small drone before closing it. Jack took it, and powered it up. With some quick instructions, the drone entered through the opening in the rocks, and was soon out of sight.

"Show the signal on the map," Said Jack to 926, who complied. The map flickered once, before showing the path that the drone was making in green. In the upper right corner of the screen was a live feed of the drone's vision.

While the drone ventured into the cave, the team continued working on making an opening in the entrance to it, big enough for all of them to go through. Jackbot 926 stayed behind, monitoring the drone that went in. Meanwhile, 235 was busy selecting the points where 623 could fire and not make the entrance cave-in. 413 occasionally helped in firing the rocks, but mostly they just watched and monitored the other two bots, making sure that they didn't get harmed. Jack looked on proudly at the bot's teamwork from 926's shoulder.

"Oooh, that's interesting," Said Jack as he watched the live feed. The drone had found a grotto, and was currently scouting it. Curiously enough, there were a few trees, even though there was virtually no sunlight.

"Master, we've finished," Said Jackbot 623. Jack looked at the cave opening, and yeah, it was actually pretty big now.

"A'ight, let's get goin-woah, what the fuck? Hey, what happened to the drone?" Asked Jack as he saw the live feed go into static. The green line on the map stopped moving; a flashing red warning appeared on the downmost right corner of the screen, reading "CONNECTION LOST".

"The connection was lost," Said Jackbot 926.

"Yeah, I can see that, genius. What I mean is that that shouldn't happen, the SpiceNet works up to 400 meters underground-I tested that myself," Grumbled Jack as he hopped off of 926.

"Perhaps it was more than 400 meters underground," Commented 926.

"I doubt it," Said Jack, walking to the opening. A light, cold breeze flowed out.

Jack looked down once more at his compass, and used his right hand to rub at it. The needle kept steadily pointing towards. Jack sighed, and let go of the compass. He reached into one of his pants' pockets and took out a flashlight. With the bots trailing in behind him, he entered the cave.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

(A/N): Ok, updates will now happen bi-weekly Sundays. Why? Because I realized that making a 4k chapter is virtually impossible for me in a week.

The tarot spread that the Medium was using was the Celtic Cross.

Chapter 4 is already being written :3c

(this is chapter 3, btw)

Hayley R: The Xiaolin Warriors will all appear in the future as Xiaolin Warriors (so will the temple); the two officers were random ass characters that will probably not appear again. Idk.

SoulMore: YAY! ^_^


	5. Cave of Mind

**There was a light, warm breeze in the cave, that came and went like breaths. The walls of the cave had small, blue luminescent rocks encrusted in them. The further they went in, away from the sunlight on the outside, the more the rocks shone. The tunnel was around 10 feet high, enough for the bots to float through comfortably.**

 **"** **Master," One of the bots said softly, getting Jack's attention. They pointed at an object on the ground, partially covered in dirt. Jack walked over to it, and shook it out of the dirt. It was a small, ceramic horse with metal accents that were brown with rust, all of it warm to the touch. Jack brushed the dirt away from its face with his thumb, looking at the eyes. Beady black eyes that had a surprising glint to them; it seemed to shimmer in the darkness.**

 **"** **Weird," Jack commented, placing down the toy. He felt as if it's eyes were following him, "Let's keep going."**

 **Goosebumps formed on his skin, feeling more uneasy the more he went in. Jack caught himself rubbing at his compass various times during the trek, finding comfort in its presence. Jack kept on walking, until he felt something break beneath his boot. They all stopped to investigate, with Jack kneeling down to see what happened.**

 **"** **Uber weird," Said Jack as he saw that he had stepped on another toy. This one, however, had been of a porcelain, yellow bird. Just as Jack went to pick it up, a Jackbot illuminated the tunnel ahead. Jack stopped in his movements, and watched as the entire tunnel was lit up by beady eyes.**

 **"** **Oh my god; what the fuck?" Jack said, straightening up. The toys were encrusted in the walls, or partially dug into the ground, or broken under rocks and vines. Now that he noticed the tunnel itself, there were vines all over it, all running along the tunnel.**

 **"** **I'm not liking this," Said Jackbot 235. The group got a bit more together as Jack hugged himself. Feeling the thousands of eyes on them, the Jackbot that had been illuminated the area turned their lights to the ground directly in front of them.**

 **"** **Better to illuminate our path," They said. Jack gulped, but continued walking. He felt a rising anxiety now-for some reason, it felt as if the toys wanted for him to take them or break them. Jack shook his head, and continued; this time, he stuck closer to the bots.**

 **After a while, they begun to see light in the distance. Jack hurried his step, the bots trailing after him. The amount of toys imbedded to the tunnel's walls was diminishing. Noticing this, Jack started sprinting to the end of the tunnel-and hastily stopped at the edge of the tunnel's end, where it became a cliff with a long way down. Jack stared wide eyed at the landscape on front of him, his boots dangerously pressing at the edge of the end, a few rocks falling down.**

 **They had arrived at the grotto the drone had found.**

 **It was very spacious, with a high, dark ceiling filled with the blue glowing rocks that had illuminated the cave's tunnel before. The smell of wood and humidity was infused in the air-and with good reason, the grotto was forested with tall trees, all a rich, deep green. A stream run through them, separating a large mound of land in the middle of the grotto from the rest of it, creating an island. In the middle of that large mound of land was the biggest tree inside the whole cave. It's wood seemed to be the darkest, and its leaves seemed to be the shiniest and most green-ish. The large roots that ground it wove around the ground, creating maze walls. Various fireflies flew around the grotto, but most were concentrated around that tree. From his distance, Jack couldn't see if any of the trees had fruits or flowers.**

 **"** **Long way down," Commented Jackbot 926.**

 **"** **Pretty," Cooed Jackbot 623, as she raised a hand and a firefly landed on it. It walked around the metal surface, before flying away.**

 **"** **It too forested down there to use the helipack," Said Jack as he peered down. He felt a metal hand clasp around his arm, and gently pull him back from the edge. Jackbot 413 let go of his forearm when they saw he was at a safe distance-5 feet away.**

 **"** **Master, we can float down. You can ride on one of us," Piped up Jackbot 926 helpfully. Jack resisted the urge to smack his forehead.**

 **"** **Duh, right, y'all can do that," Said Jack. He walked over to 926, and the bot turned over helpfully. Without much effort, Jack was nestled quicky on 926's shoulders.**

 **"** **Shall we continue?" Asked 926 as he felt Jack trying to get comfy in his metallic frame.**

 **"** **Wait a sec…. Aaand ok, now," Said Jack as he grasped at the top of 926's head.**

 **One by one, the bots neared the edge and then started to gently float down, like falling sky lanterns. Jack turned his head to the cliff wall when he noticed that there were still a few toys imbedded in it, their beady eyes following him. Jack sighed, and looked down at his wrist; the compass was pointing towards the tree in the middle. The redhead squinted to see if there was a place near the middle tree that the jackbots could land safely in, but saw that the entire grotto was too heavily forested.**

 **"** **Guess I'm gonna have to walk," Mumbled Jack.**

 **"** **Master, you can ride on me through the grotto," Said Jackbot 926. Jack laughed, and pat the bot's head.**

 **"** **You aren't exactly the comfiest seat, y'know," Said Jack as he fidgeted around, the shoulders of the bot starting to hurt his backside.**

 **As soon as the boats landed, Jack jumped off of 926. Blue fireflies floated up from where the grass was bothered by Jack's boots. The redhead jumped back at the sudden light, straightening once he saw they were just fireflies. He felt weary of them.**

 **"** **I have a bad feeling about this," Said Jackbot 235 behind them. Jack chuckled humorlessly.**

 **"** **You and me both, buddy," Said Jack before they began their trek into the dark forest.**

 **The first thing they noticed while walking through the thick forest was that it was quiet. Jack's steps on the soft grass pierced the silence in an uncomfortable way-as if the silence was supposed to be constant. The humming of the jackbots' machinery sounded amplified in this absence of sound. There were streams of water running through the forest, yet they sounded strangely muffled. Not even the buzzing of the fireflies' wings could be heard.**

 **The air was cold and humid, but no breeze came to ruffle the trees. Their leaves were a green so dark, it might as well have been black-and, Jack suspected exactly that. He didn't shine a flashlight onto the leaves for fear of seeing that they were, in fact, black. However, besides their somber coloring, they looked exactly the same as the ones on the surface. In fact, now that Jack noticed-the place did seem oddly familiar. Jack couldn't place a finger on it-until they started seeing the tiny structures reminiscent of the offering to the spirits above, only that the insides of these was illuminated by blue lights. Jack glanced back at the path they had taken, and back at the tiny houses. They continued walking, until Jack realized that the reason as to why the place seemed oddly familiar was that it looked like the exact same path they had taken on the surface to get to the cave.**

 **"** **Creepy," Said Jack in a singsong voice, hugging himself. The jackbots hummed in agreement.**

 **After a while of walking, the sound of water started to become less muffled. The forest started to get less thick, until Jack could see that they were arriving at a stream bank. Beyond the stream was the bit of raised land that they saw before when descending the cliff. The number of blue fireflies was more concentrated in this area, all of them surrounding and floating around the huge tree that served as the center of the cave. Jack stopped at the bank, and exhaled a long sigh as he looked up at the tree.**

 **"** **Nervous?" Asked Jackbot 623, laying her right hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack placed a hand on top of her's.**

 **"** **Yeah," Said Jack breathily. The tree looked imposing; bigger than any other around, it rose above the canopy. Its trunk was huge, and its giant roots wove around the ground, creating a natural maze to get to the center of it. Jack glanced down at his wrist and moved it to test its compass, and saw that it was still steadily pointing towards the tree.**

 **The redhead hopped onto the nearest Jackbot, 623, and crossed the steam like that. Once they were at the stream bank of the tree's little island, Jack hopped off. He waited until the other jackbots crossed the stream bank, before looking up once more at the tree-and, most importantly, its roots, which were the current obstacle. Jack pursed his lips in thought, before a jackbot helpfully tapped the metal contraption strapped to his back.**

 **"** **Oh, right. Fuck this spiritual bullshit," Said Jack as he pulled a string at his back and the blades of the helipack deployed, "lets search around the tree first, see if we can find anything that looks… soul-ish…"**

 **Jack took to the air first, the jackbots following and then spreading out to scan the tree. Its bark was dark, with intricate, swirling designs decorating it. Upon further inspection, Jack realized that the designs weren't etched onto the tree-they seemed to just be the way the tree naturally grew in. It looked as if Van Gogh himself had painted the tree to life; some swirls, the thicker ones, elegantly extended from the tree to form its long and sturdy branches. Jack's eyes traced a branch, eyeing the rich green leaves with their black stems, and finally fell on a small, unassuming orb. Jack tilted his head in curiosity, before landing on the branch. He lightly walked his way over to where the orb was, and crouched down to grab it gently in his palm.**

 **It was a fruit.**

 **It looked like a peach-if peaches were midnight colored. Its texture was soft, much like velvet. Jack squeeze it lightly, and found that it was squeezable, not hard, which meant it was ripe. Jack let the fruit hanging from its branch, and looked up. Now that he saw the peach, he noticed that the tree had hundreds of them. He looked down, and saw that there were no peaches on the roots of the tree. It seemed that they didn't fall. He also saw Jackbot 235 eyeing the bottom of the trunk of the tree. Jack jumped to the nearest, lowest branch, and continued climbing down, branch by branch, to 235.**

 **"** **What can you say to me?" Asked Jack once he was close enough. He sat down on a branch, his legs swinging.**

 **"** **It seems the tree is a bit over a thousand years old, if my measuring of the trunk is correct. I cannot find its species, but it is safe to say that it belongs to the genus** ** _Prunus_** **-as normal peaches and apricots do," Said Jackbot 235, before falling into silence. Jack looked at it in surprise.**

 **"** **...235? You alright? You shut up on your own," Said Jack. 235 turned to glare at him, but Jack knew there was no ill intention.**

 **"** **Peaches originate from the Northwest of China-they have been highly revered in the Chinese culture. They consider the wood from the peach tree to repel or ward off evil spirits," Said Jackbot 235.**

 **"** **This one's doing a lousy job at that," Commented Jack, knocking on the tree's wood.**

 **"** **Perhaps that's because it is not a peach tree, but a tree that bears fruit similar to the peach," Said Jackbot 235.**

 **"** **You're so smart," Jack complimented the bot.**

 **"** **Peaches, in Chinese mythology, are said to be consumed by immortals. They attribute the peach the characteristics of longetivity too," Said Jackbot 235, sounding a bit mystified.**

 **"** **Alright, from what database are you getting all this?" Asked Jack, crossing his arms. The Jackbot looked sheepishly at him, before answering.**

 **"** **Wikipedia," He said. Jack pouted at him, looking entirely unimpressed.**

 **"** **I taught you better than that," Scolded Jack.**

 **"** **You taught me to use wikipedia for introductory material. This** ** _is_** **introductory material," Said 235, motioning to the tree with one hand.**

 **"** **Well, yeah, but I expected you to go on and search on different sources too. You have a sufficient amount of web crawlers for that. I should know, since I coded each and every one of them," Lectured Jack.**

 **"** **Yes master, of course master, whatever you say master," Said Jackbot 235. Jack uncrossed his arms.**

 **"** **Are you sassing me!?" Asked Jack.**

 **"** **There seems to be an energy force from the ground from which the tree sprouts out of. My sensors indicate that it doesn't have harmful effects, but it seems to generate some heat," Said Jackbot 235. Jack was about to bring him back to the subject they were talking about, but the other Jackbots decided to come down just then.**

 **"** **Master, we have found an energy source from the ground from which the tree sprouts out of. We assume it is what you are looking for, as its electromagnetic signature deviates from the ones on the rest of this palce," Said Jackbot 926.**

 **"** **Yeah, 235 told me already," Said Jack, "How are we going to get it out?"**

 **"** **...Touch the trunk?" Asked Jackbot 413. Jack hovered closer to the trunk and touched it. The group waited for a while, before sighing.**

 **"** **Touch the trunk lower?" Offered 413 helpfully.**

 **"** **Maybe we should just dig out the thing," Said 623, already floating down to the roots.**

 **"** **Or, scout the roots first," Said Jackbot 926, rushing past 413 and landing on a root, before scanning the rest of the tangled maze. Jack landed next to 926.**

 **The roots looked like waves that had been stopped in time. Long and twisted, making arches and loops around the tree. It was dark in the narrow passages they created. Jack peered into an entrance to the narrow passage, and then started climbing down to it.**

 **"** **Master, we can't accompany you there-it is too narrow for us," Said Jackbot 926. Jack looked up at his bulky frame, and then back at the dark passage.**

 **"** **Then give me a drone," Said Jack. A drone came out of 235, and zipped over to Jack.**

 **"** **We'll be monitoring your vitals, and guiding you to the center of the tree. Once you get there, the drone will be able to drill into the tree and get out the soul," Said Jackbot 623. She sounded worried.**

 **"** **Alright," Jack said, nodding.**

 **Getting to the center of the tree had been hard. The passages twisted and looped to the point that Jack swore he had gone in circles at least once. The paths were confusing, all of them were dark and wooden. There were some in which Jack had to squeeze through, the way being too narrow. However, he was able to reach the middle within two hours with the help of the Jackbots, who had been guiding him from above by yelling him to go left or right. The roots had unearthed the ground around them, essentially elevating the heart of the tree-the seed from which it had sprouted out of. The drone quickly assessed the area, and once it found the easiest and safest way to the seed, it started drilling. Meanwhile, Jack leaned against a root, patiently waiting, his eyes closed in a light rest.**

 **Suddenly, the pathway was filled with warmth.**

 **Jack opened his eyes, and saw that there was a warm, golden light bathing the path. His breath caught in his throat as he quickly turned around, looking at the hole the drone had drilled into the light was pouring from it-and, now that Jack was paying attention to it, there was a lot of beeping noises coming from it. Jack took a shaky step to the hole, and peered in-only to be met with a faceful of drone.**

 **"** **Calm down, calm down!" Jack said, taking the excited drone out of his face with shaky hands. The drone kept on chattering, beeps and coos as it vibrated in Jack's hands. In one of its tiny hands, it had a seed. A golden seed, shining brightly as if it were the sun, bathing everything in a warm glow.**

 **"** **Oh," Jack said softly, looking at the seed. In the light, he peered down at his compass, and saw that it was pointing right at it. The needle was quivering, recompensing for the shivers that were running through his body, even though the area was warm.**

 **The drone offered the seed to Jack, but the genius couldn't take it. It was such a small and frail thing, that peach seed. It shone so brightly that Jack was afraid that its light would go out if he touched it. He felt his wrist twinge a bit, and looked down to see that the dragons that were holding up the compass had begun to move their tails and whiskers. Jack stared at the mesmerizing movement, the tails running through his skin like water down a stream. They were still holding up the compass, however.**

 **"** **...Lets go up first," Said Jack weakly, pushing away the drone.**

 **The climb upwards was eternal, but oddly enough, Jack didn't mind. He felt comforted by the soul's shining warmth. He didn't want the moment to end-as it inevitably would. The urge to grab the seed grew the closer they got to the surface. The dragons could already move, but never left their place at the compass. They had begun, in turn, to circle the compass; crawling around it in a slow dance. Jack had stopped a few times in his ascent to just stare curiously at them. They had been lifeless statues his entire life-to see them move was strange.**

 **"** **Welcome back, Master," Said Jackbot 926 as Jack climbed up the hole he had gone through in the first place, the drone in tow. Jack stretched his limbs, appreciating the wide open space. He scanned his surroundings, and found that the blue fireflies that had been flying around were nowhere to be seen.**

 **"** **What happened to the fireflies?" Asked Jack.**

 **"** **They disappeared a while ago, Master," Said Jackbot 413.**

 **"** **Shit," Cursed Jack softly. He turned around to look at the drone, and the soul.**

 **"** **You should touch it," Said Jackbot 623, giving him an encouraging nudge on the back.**

 **Jack extended his left hand, the one with the compass, and the drone dropped the seed on it. Jack yelped as the seed burned his hand, but he didn't drop it, rather he covered it with his other hand and brought it close to his chest. Its texture was rough, and it was slightly vibrating. Jack looked down at his compass, but saw that it was still there.**

 **"** **C'mon, c'mon," Jack muttered, a bit desperately. He tightened his hold on the seed, and saw that the light had flared with the pressure. Understanding, Jack retrieved a tool from his belt and opened the hand the seed was in. He flicked the tool, it turning into a knife, and brought it down swiftly onto the seed.**

 **It happened quickly.**

 **The golden light flared out of the seed, blinding Jack and the bots nearby. It almost illuminated the entire chamber, bathing the entire area in its golden light. Then, the light shrunk and condensed into a ball that seemed to mimic the sun. When Jack opened his eyes, he only caught the orb of light leaving the chamber through the entrance at the top. Jack looked on confusedly, before returning to look at his wrist.**

 **The compass was still there.**

 **"** **FUCK," Jack yelled in frustration, scratching at it with his other hand. His blunt nails didn't do much damage other than redden the skin, painting the now still dragons in pink. Jack briefly considered chopping his hand off just to not see the compass' mocking face, before the entire room shook.**

 **"** **Master!" A Jackbot said, before grabbing Jack by the scruff and floating up. The roots were creaking, shaking to remove the dirt off of themselves. A few had gotten free and were now swinging around to catch anything that they touched. The cave's roof began crack by the shaking of the cave, and Jack knew then they had to get out.**

 **"** **Everyone, out!" Said Jack, activating his helipack and maneuvering through the live roots with difficulty. They moved jerkily, but fast and erratic. A few managed to gash his clothing and scratch at his skin, before something grabbed his ankle.**

 **"** **Ah, fuck!" Yelled Jack as he instinctively got the handcannon out from its holster and fired at whatever was grabbing his ankle. He managed to hit it, severing it. Jack looked at his ankle, and saw a green vine wrapped around it. Jack felt nauseous, and kicked the vine off. The tree didn't had vines.**

 **He'd been so preoccupied with the vine, that he didn't see the root coming in to collide with him. He was essentially slapped out of the air, right into the trunk of the tree, back first. Jack felt the helipack bend under the force of impact, before another vine came in and rammed the propellers against the trunk, absolutely destroying them in the process. Jack quickly got a knife out and dug it into the tree, grabbing onto it so he didn't fall once the vine retreated. It came in for another whipping; Jack leaped onto a nearby branch to avoid it.**

 **"** **Jackbots!" Jack called out, running down the branch to jump to a higher one. He pushed himself up, and started looking around for the Jackbots while shooting off any vine that came too close for comfort.**

 **Jack continued climbing, before he finally saw his bots. They were in pairs, fending off the roots with their weapons. He assessed their damage, and saw that they were currently fine-if a bit dinged and scratched at some points. They were nearing the river, however, and Jack was still at the tree.**

 **"** **What are they doing?" Hissed Jack as he shot another vine. Suddenly, he felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise, and the sensation of being watched came creeping on. Jack paralyzed, throwing a look towards the Jackbots to make sure there was nothing else attacking them, before turning around quickly and firing the handcannon.**

 **He didn't get to hit anything, because a vine shot up and wrapped itself around his wrist, pushing it upwards and shooting at the cavern roof. Jack stared wide-eyed at the space on front of him. It was occupied by… a giant bean?**

 **"** **What the shit!?" Yelled Jack, tugging at his arm. The being on front of him was smiling crookedly, its teeth all misaligned in a way that suggested they had been ripped from other people and organized haphazardly in a poor imitation of a human mouth. There were too many, anyways, for it to look like a human mouth. Its yellow eyes were watching him with great interest; they made Jack want to shoot them too.**

 **"** **I was not expecting guests today, but then again, one should always be prepared for everything, am I right?" Said the being.**

 **"** **Oh my god, it talks," Groaned Jack, dropping the gun from the hand and catching it with the other in a swift movement, before twirling and shooting at the being right in the eye. It shrieked, not having expected that from the redhead, and Jack took this moment to wrench his arm free and start running and leaping to other branches.**

 **"** **JACKBOTS!" Jack screamed, trying to get their attention to no avail.**

 **He felt panic starting to claw its way in, his breathing starting to go slightly into the hyperventilation zone. He looked frantically at the still fighting bots, and realized he was on his own. Jack swallowed, and jumped from a branch to a root below. He wasn't the most athletic person, not by a long shot, but the adrenaline of the situation gave him enough energy and dexterity to move through the roots. It felt much like a hardcore, alternate version of lava floor. Some roots were slower to move than others, so Jack targeted those to land on first.**

 **However, it seemed that whatever had grabbed him before was not going to back down, as it appeared again and grabbed both his legs this time and lifted him off into the air in one swoop. The handcannon fell from Jack's hands at the terror that had taken over his mind momentarily. The being brought him to eye level.**

 **"** **It is not nice to shoot your guests, you know," Said the being, its deranged voice sounding much like claws on a chalkboard. Jack's eyes darted around, looking for a way out. He looked up at the knives still on his utility belt, but decided that they were too slow to cut through the vines quickly.**

 **"** **Oh, how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself," Said the being, and Jack's attention snapped back to it, "my name is Hannibal Roy Bean."**

 **"** **Creative," Jack blurted out, before covering his mouth with his hands. Panic made for a loose mouth. The chunk of… skin above the being's right eye twitched in a poor imitation of an eyebrow raise.**

 **"** **Yes, well, I spend my creativity on other endeavours… And you, my fellow guest, what is your name?" Asked the bei- Hannibal. Jack stayed silent, glaring at it.**

 **"** **Quiet now? I repeat, What. Is. Your. Name?" Asked Hannibal, his grip over Jack's legs tightening enough to draw a yelp of main from the redhead.**

 **"** **Fuck, let me go!" Said Jack, trying to kick his legs, "it's Jack Spicer, alright!?"**

 **"** **Jack Spicer," Said Hannibal, making Jack shudder at how disgusting his name sounded on the bean's mouth, "what an interesting name. Well, Jack Spicer, it seems you have stolen something that I rightfully owned."**

 **While fidgeting, Jack felt a weight prod against his abdomen, and glanced up to see the flashbang hanging from his belt. Jack looked back at the bean again, willing it to ignore the things in his belt. He just had to wait the right moment to grab the flashbang.**

 **"** **You see, that soul was mine, by all means and rights. It meant something dear to me-and, also, it happened to be the one thing that was keeping this, one of my homes, in place," Said Hannibal, "but I am willing to trade something for it…"**

 **"** **...What?" Asked Jack.**

 **"** **I see that you brought along some rather interesting toys, Jack," Said Hannibal, looking towards the bots. They were still fighting, surprisingly, but had resorted to use more their claws than their weapons. It seemed they were running out of ammo.**

 **"** **I'm not trading them," Growled Jack, a possessive and protective streak running through him.**

 **"** **Oh, no, it's not them I want. It's your particular skillset that I am interested in," Laughed Hannibal, "you do see that I hold a lot of power, right? I built this lair, you know. And I have a few other projects up my sleeves too… Imagine what we could do together."**

 **"** **...I'm not imagining it, can you paint me a clear picture?" Snarked Jack. He felt like spitting on Hannibal's face.**

 **"** **Alright. See, I have a simple goal in mind: control. That's it. That's all I desire. Control. But, the world we live in is a very volatile one-unpredictable, full of surprises. We are advancing into a new era now, and techniques that worked in the past are not working so well now. However, it appears you are the one to help me in that-you do seem to have newer techniques to tackle on these problems," Said Hannibal, glancing once towards the bots.**

 **"** **Control… as in world domination or something?" Asked Jack.**

 **"** **Yes, precisely! See, we think alike, you and I," Said Hannibal, pleased. Jack was certainly not, especially having his intellect compared to this thing's.**

 **"** **...Alright, ok, what the fuck is it that you want?" Asked Jack, getting tired of being upside down so long.**

 **"** **Again: your skillset. Your services to me; with it, I'll place you as my second-in-command. Doesn't sound bad, does it? You'll have control over my domain too-well, to an extent, of course," Said Hannibal.**

 **"** **...What's your current domain?" Asked Jack.**

 **"** **It's a dimension different from this one," Said Hannibal.**

 **"** **Wait, so you don't have...like… land or slaves or whatever it is you want over here? On Earth, I mean," Asked Jack.**

 **"** **I do! But only small cults worshipping me. I want the entire world," Said Hannibal. Jack felt momentarily like doing a pissing competition with this thing by casually mentioning he was the head of an international, multi-billionaire company from which everyone in the world had a product of. He bit his tongue, though, and kept shut.**

 **"** **So, what do you say?" Asked Hannibal.**

 **"** **...Yeah sure ok," Said Jack, shrugging.**

 **"** **Splendid! Now, let me-" But Hannibal never got to finish that sentence, because Jack grabbed the flashbang and pulled its pin off before letting it fall.**

 **The vines around Jack's legs instantly loosened, and he curled into a ball as he fell towards the roots. The bang left an incessant ring in his ears that threatened to swallow his thoughts. He had pushed his goggles over his eyes at the last second, screwing them shut in protection against the blinding white light the grande produced. He felt his arms being grabbed by claws, and soon he was being hauled up. Jack blinked his eyes open, and saw Jackbot 926 holding onto him. With his free hands, Jack quickly signed a** ** _thank you_** **in ASL to 926, the loss of hearing not leaving him able to talk correctly. The jackbot nodded, and Jack pulled the goggles off of his eyes.**

 **Jack crawled up to 926's shoulders, and settled there. He quickly scanned the area, and saw that Hannibal was still up and attacking the other three Jackbots. The drone from earlier was nowhere to be seen, presumably destroyed in battle.**

 **"** **Jackbots, retreat!" Screamed Jack as loud as he could for the Jackbots to hear him. The flashbang must've alerted them of where he was and with who.**

 **The Jackbots started to hover backwards, away from the reach of the vines, while shooting at them still. He saw Hannibal roar (or at least do the motion of it), before a huge tree root shot up, the earth beneath shaking as it erupted from it. It whacked Jackbot 235 right across the chest-and Jack could only watch in wide-eyed horror as a vine grabbed 235 from midair.**

 **And squeezed him to death.**

 **"** **235!" Jack screamed out at seeing 235 explode in wires, oil, metal bits and bolts, but 926 grabbed Jack's legs to avoid losing him. The rest of the boats zipped up to 926, and the squadron was left to fly as quickly as possible through the tunnel they came in. The vines had stopped their assault on them, content to destroy whatever was left of 235.**

 **The fresh air and natural sunlight was welcoming; the group managed to squeeze out of the opening they had made to enter the cave. They hovered over the forest, and decided to just take the quickest route to the SUV. There was a blur of green below, and soon they were at the parking. Jackbot 926 gently let the inventor back down on the floor. Jack looked at the group of remaining Jackbots: 413, 926, and 623.**

 **"** **I'm sorry," 623 flashed through a tablet she got out of her abdomen. Jack raised his hands, and signed quickly but shakily** ** _It's not your fault. I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have risked you guys like this._**

 **"** **We were made for this, however. Remember, 235 is still up in the net," Flashed 413 helpfully as they touched the tablet to transmit the message. Jack looked away, kicking a pebble, before signing** ** _I know… still hurts._**

 **Jack caught a look at the compass, and pushed his sleeve down to look at it. The dragons were still once more, and Jack felt rage bubbling up his throat. His other hand lightly palmed the left knife at his belt, wondering idly if slashing the damn thing would make it go away. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a metal claw stilling his right hand, which had already taken out the knife. Jack looked guiltily up at 623.**

 **"** **It won't do anything, you know this… Come on, you can throw a tantrum at home," Flashed 623, and that was it. That was the tiny drop of water that overflowed the cup. Jack started laughing, and the Jackbots looked confusedly at him. Once the tears started, they quickly grabbed Jack and pushed him into the SUV, Jackbot 926 taking the wheel as the other two tried to comfort Jack through this hysteria attack.**

 **Breathing was getting difficult, and soon enough Jack crossed into hyperventilation zone. 623 and 413 tried to use grounding mechanics to snap him out of his panic attack, but eventually just settled to watch and wait for the panic attack to subside. The laughing subsided, turning into wet, throaty coughs. 623 extended an arm to stop Jack from leaning too much forward, feeling his body shiver rather violently. After a while, Jack suddenly slumped forward, followed by silence.**

 **"** **...You think it's over?" Asked 413 to 623, who was busy scanning her creator as she held him back.**

 **"** **Well, he went unconscious," Said 623 as she closed Jack's eyes. 413 leaned over their seat and brought forward a pillow from the back. 623 grabbed it, and placed it on her side, before letting Jack fall on it. She arranged Jack in a way she thought was most comfortable, and lightly carded her right claw down his hair.**

 **The ride home was long.**

 **~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

 **(A/N):**

Chapter title taken off of a song from Howl's Moving Castle.

The only three songs I listened while writing this:  
1) Cave of Mind  
2) Waterfall (Undertale)  
3) Quiet Waters (Undertale)

As you may have seen, they inspired me to write a few bits here and there.

So... updates... they won't be periodical... since i realized i just plain suck at that...

But! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are highly appreciated! If anyone ever decides to do art, I'll post it on the AO3 version-thought I should mention that. Aaand, I didn't proofread this chapter, so if anyone finds an error, please say it! 3

And, wow, this is the longest any story of mine has ever been!


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